Eric Naposki Murder Sentencing Delayed

Former New England Patriot's linebacker Eric Naposki, now a convicted murderer, took a break from his seemingly continual jailhouse network TV interviews to appear today in court, where he asked that his punishment be delayed until May 18.

Last year, an Orange County jury convicted Naposki of killing William McLaughlin, a Newport Beach inventor and businessman worth about $55 million in Dec. 1994. At the time of the killing, Naposki was dating Nanette Ann Packard, McLaughlin's live-in girlfriend. Prosecutor Matt Murphy believes Naposki and Packard conspired together in the hopes of stealing a portion of the dead man's fortune. Packard's jury began deliberations late yesterday.

The only words Naposki--whose wrists were chained to his waist--uttered were, "Yes, I am your honor," after Froeberg essentially asked him if he is happy with the delay.

Two bailiffs then took the killer to a nearby cell where he once again asked for a meeting with Orange County DA super-sleuth investigator Larry Montgomery. After his conviction, Naposki has been claiming he knows the identity of the real killer. One clue: It's not him. Montgomery emerged about 15 minutes later but didn't seem in a rush to throw handcuffs on a new suspect in the case.

CBS 48 Hours interviewed Naposki last year after the trial and aired a surprisingly sympathetic piece that left out numerous key incriminating facts.

This week, Dateline NBC producers got their time with him inside the Orange County Jail.

R. Scott Moxley’s award-winning investigative journalism has touched nerves for two decades. An angry congressman threatened to break Moxley’s knee caps. A dirty sheriff promised his critical reporting was irrelevant and then landed in prison. Corporate crooks won’t take his calls. Murderous gangsters mad-dogged him in court. The U.S. House of Representatives debated his work. Pusillanimous cops have left hostile messages using fake names. Federal prosecutors credited his stories for the arrest of a doctor who sold fake medicine to dying patients. And a frantic state legislator literally caught sleeping with lobbyists sprinted down state capital hallways to evade his questions in Sacramento.